Spring type ball throwing booster

ABSTRACT

A portable, manually operated collapsible softball pitching machine having a spring actuated underhand pitching arm movable to operative position with a cocking lever. The ball pitching machine has a cocking lever that engages the spring biased pitching arm and moves it to a half cocked position where the pitching arm is latched. The cocking lever then engages a booster arm amd moves the pitching arm to a fully cocked position. Provided also is a pivotally mounted platform that is manually operated to tension a separate spring to add an additional force to the pitching arm.

United States Patent 1191 Kahelin [451 Sept. 25, 1973 SPRING TYPE BALLTHROWING BOOSTER [76] Inventor: Edward W. Kahelin, 812 5th St.,

Manhattan Beach, Calif. 90266 [22] Filed: Jan. 21, 1971 [21] Appl. No.:108,528

[52] US. Cl 124/16, 273/26 D, 124/40, 124/36 [51] Int. Cl. F4lb 7/00[58] Field of Search 124/16, 36, 41, 40; i

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,268,187 6/1918 Velk 124/73,136,308 6/1964 Giovagnoli. 124/7 1,344,378 6/1920 Botler 124/7 FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,477,628 3/1967 France 124/16 9/ 1963 GreatBritain 124/16 6/1932 Great Britain 124/16 Primary Examiner-Richard C.Pinkham Assistant Examiner-William R. Browne AttorneyRobert 0.Richardson [571 ABSTRACT A portable, manually operated collapsiblesoftball pitching machine having a spring actuated underhand pitchingarm movable to operative position with a cocking lever. The ballpitching machine has a cocking lever that-engages the spring biasedpitching arm and moves it to a half cocked position where the pitchingarm is latched. The cockinglever then engages a .booster arm amd movesthe pitching arm'to a fully cocked position. Provided also is apivotally mounted platform that is manually operated to tension atseparate spring to add an additional force to the pitching arm.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEPZSBH 3.760.787

sum 2 or 3 2 1 g 1 if 51 1 g iZ' I I NVENTOR.

Zn/Lz BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Baseball teams have long neededbaseball pitching machines to provide practice for batters without usinghuman pitchers, many of whom are too inconsistent in control, accuracyand speed to provide for a worthwhile batting practice. The requirementsand shortcomings of baseball pitching machines are more fully discussedin applicants US. Pat. No. 3,552,371 issuing Jan. 5, 1971 for a BaseballPitching Machine.

As part of applicants continuing development program, the softballpitching machine and fast ball kit of the present invention meets theneeds of beginner and advanced groups, and the wide range of ages andabilities of players in Park, School, Church and Recreational Leagues.No softball pitching machine heretofore has met the requirements ofsimplicity, accuracy, realistic pitching simulation, stability,dependability and portability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The softball pitching machine of the presentinvention uses the basic rugged design with a tripod fold-up brame ofapplicants baseball machine for the underhand throwing of softballstypically having a 12 inch diameter. A ball feed tube automaticallyfeeds stored balls into a ball holder when the ball in the holder hasbeen ejected by the triggered rotating pitching arm. The release pointof the ball is similar to the typical underhand delivery of softballs.The ejector automatically imparts a reverse spin to the ball to simulatea drop pitch. Simple adjustment of the ball-holder regulates thetrajectory, accommodating various attitudes of machine placement as wellas adjusting the strike zone for different batters.

Cocking of the machine is accomplished by'rotating a cocking leverforward to quarter turn, two times for each pitch. This keeps thecocking strength and energy requirements of the operator well below thatof the average adult male or female.

The softball pitching machine of the present invention is easy to setup, is handy and readily available for use. Its accuracy makes everypitch count. The machine throws the ball in a realistic simulation of apitched ball in its speed and trajectory. It is simple to operate andmaintain, pocking a seasons Worth of hitting into a single battingpractice session.

The fast ball kit adapts the basic machine for'higher speeds,substantially extending its use through the beginner stage to use byadvanced and experienced players. This kit attaches to the machine withsimple clamps with no holes to drill and represents a unique feature inthat it provides the difficult to achieve goal of accuracy at fast speedas well as slow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of thesoftball machine with the pitching arm in uncocked position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the softball machine with thepitching arm in the half cocked position;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the softball machine with thepitching arm in fully cocked position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of the softball machine latching structure;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary front view of the catch between the cockinglever and pitching arm;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the softball machine with thepitching arm in fully cocked position and the speed ball kit attachmentin place; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of my previously patented baseballpitching machine with the speed ball kit attached to it.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT Reference is made to FIG. 1wherein is shown a portable, collapsible support frame 10. This supportframe includes a front U-shaped leg 12 having its loop 14 with groundcontact pad 16 at the bottom and the open ends 18 at the top. AnotherU-shaped support frame 20 has its loop 22 at the rear with the open ends24 extending forwardly and integrally welded to open ends 18 of the leg12. Extending downwardly from loop 22 is a rear support leg 26terminating in a ground contact pad 28. A pair of transverse braces 30connect the rear end of frame 20 with the lower end of leg 12 to providerigidity. Rear brace 32 extends from the lower end of leg 26 to one ofthe welded intersections between ends 18 and 24 for the same reason.

The third leg of the tripod support frame is formed by an upper rearstrut 34 and lower rear strut 36 pivotally attached to rear support leg26 at pivot points 38, 40, and an upper forward strut 42 and lowerforward strut 44 pivotally attached to leg 12 at pivot points 46, 48.These four struts 34, 36, 42, 44 terminate at a third ground contact pad46 where they are all fixedly held by a single bolt, not shown. Removalof this bolt permits the third leg to be collapsed for transportation ofthe machine to and from its place of use and storage.

Rotatably mounted on support frame 10 at pivot 49 is the pitching arm 50and energy booster arm 52 which are held together and at right angles bya brace 54. At the free end of pitching arm 50 is a rubber hammer head56 which is adapted to eject a softball 58 positioned on a ball holder60 fastened on leg 12. The ball holder 60 is a V-shaped tray made totilt up or down witha thumbscrew to adjust the balls trajectory. Thehammer head 56 is of such shape and its angle of contact with ball 58 issuch that the ball is ejected with a forward spin. A ball storage tube62 is mounted on leg 12 to store several softballs each of whichautomatically drops onto ball holder 60 and into the path of hammer head56.

A spring 64 is used to rotate throwing arm 50 in a counterclockwisedirection in FIG. 1 shown by arrow 65. This spring is attached at oneend 66 by bracket 68 to loop 22 of the trigger support frame 20 and atthe other end 70 to end 72 of cable 74. This cable 74 loops over pulley76 which rotates on bracket 78 on the bottom of front leg 12. The cablethen extends upwardly and has its other end 80 secured at cableattachment point 82 on pitching arm 50 between hammer head 56 and pivotpoint 49. The spring 64 and cable 74 tends to keep the pitching arm 50in the position shown in FIG. 1, with hammer head 56 in contact withball 58 resting on ball holder 60. A screen guard 84 on both sides ofthe plane of rotation of pitching arm 50 is for safety purposes toprevent injury by the operator accidentally having his arm in the pathof rotation.

A cocking lever 86 used in cooking the pitching arm 50, a first stagecocking latch and safety 88, and release trigger 90 complete theassembly shown in FIG. 1 but their structure, function, and operationcan best be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and S. In FIG.

2 the pitching arm 50 has been rotated clockwise, shown by arrow 92, onequarter turn to its half-cocked position, which is substantiallyparallel to the ground. This is accomplished by moving cocking lever 86clockwise as shown by arrow 94 from the dashed line position 96 to itssubstantially vertical position shown by solid lines 98. Hammer head 56on pitching arm 50 rests on the first stage cocking latch and safety 88which prevents the tension of spring 64 from returning the pitching armto its original position shown in FIG.

To fully cock the pitching arm 50 to the raised position in which it isshown in FIG. 3 the cocking lever 86 is returned from its position 98 inFIG. 2 to its position 96 and is raised up once more. This permits theenergy booster arm 52 to engage and be retained by trigger mechanism 90.The final position shown in FIG. 3 removes the first stage cocking latchand safety 88 from the path of the hammer head 56 when the pitching armis released. Details of the latching and trigger structure are shown inFIG. 4 and details of the catch between the cocking lever and pitchingarm are shown in FIG. 5.

Referring now to FIG. 4 there is shown the parallel legs of triggersupport frame 20 which are integral with the front legs 12. Gussets 100welded thereto support pivot points 49 which are the ends of a rotatableshaft 102 upon which energy booster arm 52 and pitching arm 50 areaffixed for rotation. The trigger assembly 90 is substantially the sameas that shown in my earlier patent. It has a mounting bracket 104fastened to frame 20. An adjusting screw 106 with crank 108, as used onthe baseball machine of my earlier patent, has a trigger 110 mountedthereon. Handle 112 is used to move the trigger l into and out of thepath of energy booster arm 52 for retention and release purposes. A handshield 114 on frame provides a place for the operator to grip frame 20while shielding the hand from the path of rotation of the booster armand pitching arm.

The first stage and cocking latch 88 is a U-shaped member 116 pivotallymounted on brackets 118 on the legs of frame 20. An offset weight 120tends to keep the U-shaped member 116 in an upright position so it willsupport and retain the hammer head 56 in the half cocked position shownin FIG. 1. The U-shaped member 116 has an offset end crank 22 which ispushed downwardly by the cocking lever arm 86 when the arm is restoredto horizontal position after fully cocking the pitching arm 50 to itsupright position. This rotates the U-shaped member out of the path ofthe pitching arm 50 and its hammer head 56 so that it will not interferewhen trigger mechanism 90 releases the pitching arm.

As noted in FIGS. 3 and 4, cable 74 passes over a standoff 122 onbooster arm 52 to provide a moment arm for the cable about pivot point49 to give a strong initial rotative force on the pitching arm 50.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the actuation of the cocking lever 86 forcocking the pitching arm 50 will now be explained. As seen from thefront, the pitching arm 50 extends down and the booster arm 52 extendsto the left. They are shown connected by brace 54 and pivotally mountedon shaft 102 rotatably mounted between gussets 100 at the upper frontportion of the machine. The cocking lever 86 has a bearing 124 on shaft102 for pivotal movement and to serve as a fulcrum. Lever 86 has an arm126 extending beyond the bearing 124. A latch 128 is positioned in theend of arm 126. An arcuate slot 130 is cut in the tubular wall of arm126 and a pin 132 is positioned in the slot and connected to the latch128. As pin 132 moves in slot 130 it rotates latch 128 into and out ofengagement with a fixed dog 134 on pitching arm 50 and a spring loadeddog 136 which extends transversely on the energy booster arm 52.

The movement of pin 132 in slot 130 is done as cocking lever 86 isrotated. This is accomplished by means of a cam groove 138 in a bracket140 which is affixed to frame leg 20. When cocking lever 86 is firstmoved from horizontal towards vertical position, latch 128 is rotatedinto the path of fixed dog 134 on the pitching arm 50 to move thepitching arm 50 to its half cocked position in which the hammer head isretained by the cocking latch as earlier explained. As the cocking lever86 is returned to horizontal position the latch 128 brushes past thespring loaded dog 136 and engages it for further rotation when thecocking lever 86 is raised the second time to fully cock the pitchingarm 50. Trigger sear 142 on energy booster arm 52 engages trigger 110(shown in FIG. 4) when the pitching arm 50 is fully cocked. When thecocking lever 86 is lowered a second time, latch 128 is rotated out ofposition of both dogs 134 and 136 so that when the pitching arm 50 isreleased, it is free to rotate without interference from the lever 86.

A sectional view of the fast ball kit attachment to the softballpitching machine is shown in FIG. 6. Here the machine is shown in fullycocked position with cable 74 extending over standoff 122 on energybooster arm 52.

The fast ball kit includes another cable 144 connected to cableattachment point 82 on the pitching arm 50. A stabilizing pulley 146 ismounted on a bracket 148 attached across the legs of transverse brace30. An operator platform consisting of a fulcrum 150, pedal 152, pulley154 and spring 156 completes the kit. Cable 144 is looped over pulley154 and is attached to the spring 156. In operation, when the machinehas been cocked, end 158 of pedal 152 assumed a raised position justbelow pulley 146. Fulcrum is on the ground. Before triggering thepitching arm, the operator steps on pedal 152 and depresses it to theground, placing a tension on spring 156. Thus when pitching arm 50 isreleased, the tension from spring 156 is added to that of spring 64 andthe velocity of rotation of the pitching arm 50 is increased.

In FIG. 7 the fast ball kit attachment is applied in a similar manner tothe baseball pitching machine which throws a ball overhand as set forthin my earlier patent. Here pitching arm 160 is in cocked position andwhen released will pivot clockwise about pivot point 162 as shown byarrow 164. Cable 166 extends from spring 168 to the end 170 of arm 160after passing over pulley 172 on the upper rear part of the frame. Cable166 also passes over the end of booster arm 174 which provides an addedlever arm for additional initial force when the pitching arm 160 isreleased. The second cable 176, which is part of the fast ball kit, isalso attached to end 170 of the pitching arm 160. Stabilizing pulley 178is mounted on transverse braces 180 of the frame. End 182 of pedal 184is below the pulley 178 and raised above the ground when the machine iscocked and fulcrum 186 is positioned on the ground. Before release theoperator steps onto pedal 184 to depress end 182 to the ground and toplace spring 188 in tension. When pitching arm 160 is released, theforce from spring 188 is added to that of spring 168 to increase thevelocity of rotation of the pitching arm 160, and hence the velocity ofthe ball in flight.

A significant advantage in this fast ball attachment is that the weightof the operator helps to stabilize the machine during the pitching cycleand keep the machine aligned for the next pitch. No additional weightsare necessary to compensate for the higher reaction forces.

Having disclosed illustrative embodiments of this invention, othermodifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art and it isto be understood that these variations are to be considered as part ofthis invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is: f

l. A softball pitching machine comprisingz' a trigger support framehaving a front end and a rear end, said frame being mounted on front andrear ground contacting legs;

a transverse shaft;

a pitching arm having an end pivotally mounted on the transverse shafton said front end of said frame and having a plane of rotation passingthrough said front and rear ends, said pitching arm having a hammer headfor contacting a ball to be pitched thereby;

a ball holder mounted on said frame below said shaft and adapted tosupport a ball thereon in the path of rotation of said hammer head;

cocking means for rotating said hammer head above said shaft to a cockedposition;

retaining means for releaseably retaining said hammer head in saidcocked position; and

power means for rotating said hammer head into said ball on said ballholder to thereby project a ball therefrom;

said cocking means including a cocking lever engageable with saidpitching arm for rotation thereof one-quarter turn to a half cockedposition;

a first stage cocking latch and safety pivotally movable into the pathof rotation of said hammer head for retaining said pitching arm in saidhalf cocked position;

an energy booster;

said cocking lever being engageable with said energy booster armrotatable with said pitching arm to rotate said pitching arm a secondquarter turn to said cocked position;

said cocking lever being operable to remove said first stage cockinglatch and safety from said hammer head rotation path.

2. A combination including a frame of a ball pitching machine having arotatable pitching arm, a platform having a ground contacting end and adepressable raisable end, a spring fastened to said platform at saidground contacting end, a first pulley positioned on said platform atsaid raisable end, a second pulley, means including a cable attached atone end thereof to said spring and at its other end to said frame fortransfering a second and independent force built up in the spring duringthe depressing of the raisable end of the platform when the pitching armis in a cocked position,

.while being tensioned by a primary spring and the cable being reevedover the pulleys.

3. A softball pitching machine comprising:

a trigger support frame having a front end and a rear end, said framebeing mounted on front and rear ground contacting legs;

a transverse shaft;

a pitching arm having an end pivotally mounted on said transverse shafton said front end of said frame and having a plane of rotation passingthrough said front and rear ends, said pitching arm having a hammer headfor contacting a ball to be pitched thereby;

a ball holder mounted on said frame below said shaft and adapted tosupport a ball thereon in the path of rotation of said hammer head;

cocking means for rotating said hammer head above said shaft to a cockedposition;

retaining means for releasably retaining said hammer head in said cockedposition; and

power means for rotating said hammer head into said ball on said ballholder to thereby project said ball therefrom;

said power means including a spring and cable for applying tension tosaid cable attached to said pitching arm between said hammer head andsaid pivotally mounted end, said spring being placed in tension whensaid hammer head is rotated to said cocked position;

said power means also including a second cable attached to said pitchingarm;

a tiltable platform having a spring mounted therein;

said second cable being attached to said spring and to the pitching armfor applying tension thereto upon depression of said platform wherebyboth said springs and said cables are placed in tension when said hammerhead is in cocked position and said platform is depressed.

1. A softball pitching machine comprising: a trigger support framehaving a front end and a rear end, said frame being mounted on front andrear ground contacting legs; a transverse shaft; a pitching arm havingan end pivotally mounted on the transverse shaft on said front end ofsaid frame and havinG a plane of rotation passing through said front andrear ends, said pitching arm having a hammer head for contacting a ballto be pitched thereby; a ball holder mounted on said frame below saidshaft and adapted to support a ball thereon in the path of rotation ofsaid hammer head; cocking means for rotating said hammer head above saidshaft to a cocked position; retaining means for releaseably retainingsaid hammer head in said cocked position; and power means for rotatingsaid hammer head into said ball on said ball holder to thereby project aball therefrom; said cocking means including a cocking lever engageablewith said pitching arm for rotation thereof one-quarter turn to a halfcocked position; a first stage cocking latch and safety pivotallymovable into the path of rotation of said hammer head for retaining saidpitching arm in said half cocked position; an energy booster; saidcocking lever being engageable with said energy booster arm rotatablewith said pitching arm to rotate said pitching arm a second quarter turnto said cocked position; said cocking lever being operable to removesaid first stage cocking latch and safety from said hammer head rotationpath.
 2. A combination including a frame of a ball pitching machinehaving a rotatable pitching arm, a platform having a ground contactingend and a depressable raisable end, a spring fastened to said platformat said ground contacting end, a first pulley positioned on saidplatform at said raisable end, a second pulley, means including a cableattached at one end thereof to said spring and at its other end to saidframe for transfering a second and independent force built up in thespring during the depressing of the raisable end of the platform whenthe pitching arm is in a cocked position, while being tensioned by aprimary spring and the cable being reeved over the pulleys.
 3. Asoftball pitching machine comprising: a trigger support frame having afront end and a rear end, said frame being mounted on front and rearground contacting legs; a transverse shaft; a pitching arm having an endpivotally mounted on said transverse shaft on said front end of saidframe and having a plane of rotation passing through said front and rearends, said pitching arm having a hammer head for contacting a ball to bepitched thereby; a ball holder mounted on said frame below said shaftand adapted to support a ball thereon in the path of rotation of saidhammer head; cocking means for rotating said hammer head above saidshaft to a cocked position; retaining means for releasably retainingsaid hammer head in said cocked position; and power means for rotatingsaid hammer head into said ball on said ball holder to thereby projectsaid ball therefrom; said power means including a spring and cable forapplying tension to said cable attached to said pitching arm betweensaid hammer head and said pivotally mounted end, said spring beingplaced in tension when said hammer head is rotated to said cockedposition; said power means also including a second cable attached tosaid pitching arm; a tiltable platform having a spring mounted therein;said second cable being attached to said spring and to the pitching armfor applying tension thereto upon depression of said platform wherebyboth said springs and said cables are placed in tension when said hammerhead is in cocked position and said platform is depressed.